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[Greg Jones]

So I cooked to almost 200° IT because it was almost 21:00 and we were hungry! Not unhappy with this at all, but it could have been a little more tender. Will definitely cook this again, and will try @Jim6820 method next time! Really tasty!

 

[Jim6820]

The chicken thighs turned out OK, but the skin was tough and rubbery, so the baking powder didn’t help. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. If it was up to me, I’d cook skinless, boneless highs, but SWMBO insists that chicken without skin is tasteless.

 

[Greg Jones]

They look great! My wife will only eat wings or breasts, so me cooking wings or we eat from KFC works best here! Bone-in, skin on thighs are the best IMO.

 

[Jim6820]

They look great! My wife will only eat wings or breasts, so me cooking wings or we eat from KFC works best here! Bone-in, skin on thighs are the best IMO.

Looks are deceiving! The actual meat was moist and flavorful, but the skin was tougher than I’ve ever seen. It did have a slight crispness to it, but chewed like a piece of inner tube.

Maybe I need to separate the skin from the meat and jacquard it or put something like butter between it and the meat…or, both. Or, maybe I need to stick to brisket and ribs.

 

[Threadcutter]

They look great! My wife will only eat wings or breasts, so me cooking wings or we eat from KFC works best here! Bone-in, skin on thighs are the best IMO.

No thighs ? With darker meat, they're so much juicier and flavorful.....

 

[Threadcutter]

Looks are deceiving! The actual meat was moist and flavorful, but the skin was tougher than I’ve ever seen. It did have a slight crispness to it, but chewed like a piece of inner tube.

Maybe I need to separate the skin from the meat and jacquard it or put something like butter between it and the meat…or, both. Or, maybe I need to stick to brisket and ribs.

Just guessing, but try brushing some butter onto the skin, crank up the temp to 325 or 350 for the last 10 or 15 minutes of the Cook.

 

[Greg Jones]

No thighs ? With darker meat, they're so much juicier and flavorful.....

She not only doesn’t like thighs, she refuses to eat them. When I shred leftover chicken to make chicken salad, I have to keep the white/dark meat separate.

 

[RattleR]

Looks are deceiving! The actual meat was moist and flavorful, but the skin was tougher than I’ve ever seen. It did have a slight crispness to it, but chewed like a piece of inner tube.

Maybe I need to separate the skin from the meat and jacquard it or put something like butter between it and the meat…or, both. Or, maybe I need to stick to brisket and ribs.

Did you use something like baking powder or corn starch, different than before? Might have been a retired fighting bird

 

[Jim6820]

Did you use something like baking powder or corn starch, different than before? Might have been a retired fighting bird

Yes, I used baking powder mixed with my rub; 1 T baking powder to 3 T rub.

In all honesty, I don’t cook chicken all that often; usually, my wife bakes it in the oven and it is pretty good. I had read about using baking powder to get the skin to crisp in the smoker, so decided to try it. The result was significantly less than good!

Not sure about the “retired fighting bird” theory as this chicken was branded as “young” and the flesh was not tough; just the skin. My thought is that I probably should stick to brisket, ribs, tri-tip, leg of lamb and other proteins that I have a good track record with.

Since my wife does an excellent job with the birds, maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

 

[Greg Jones]

Since my wife does an excellent job with the birds, maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

There are sone items I cook on the grill where I think I’m Superman. There are other items I cook inside because I’m clearly NOT Superman on the grill with that. Or I just stop cooking that altogether! It happens!

 

[SmokeOCD]

Looks are deceiving! The actual meat was moist and flavorful, but the skin was tougher than I’ve ever seen. It did have a slight crispness to it, but chewed like a piece of inner tube.

Maybe I need to separate the skin from the meat and jacquard it or put something like butter between it and the meat…or, both. Or, maybe I need to stick to brisket and ribs.

I just push down on the piece if I'm doing that. If there's bone, you can still get a left and right punch down on either side of the bone. And SWMBO is right, the skin is (potentially) the best part!

 

[Jim6820]

Well, I think I’ve found a workable solution; I’m prepping a 4# chuck roast for a Friday smoke. Stick with what ya’ know!

As for SWMBO being “right,” it may be true but keep that comment under wraps, please. I don’t want to reinforce her superiority complex any more than it already is.

Admittedly, however, I do like crispy chicken skin.

 

[PRC]

In all honesty, I don’t cook chicken all that often; usually, my wife bakes it in the oven and it is pretty good. I had read about using baking powder to get the skin to crisp in the smoker, so decided to try it. The result was significantly less than good!.

I cook whole chickens on the Napoleon rotisserie and use smoke tubes. Comes out lightly smoked and super juicy with very crispy skin. Never had any luck doing chicken on the RT.

 

[Jim6820]

I cook whole chickens on the Napoleon rotisserie and use smoke tubes. Comes out lightly smoked and super juicy with very crispy skin. Never had any luck doing chicken on the RT.

Cooking whole chickens has never been a thing at our house, but I may have to try it on the Napoleon Prestige 500 rotisserie as you suggest. I do have the large smoke chip box for it as well as a couple of smoke tubes. Glad to hear it has worked well for you on your Napoleon.

I probably do about half of my cooking on the Napoleon and love the gas grill for higher temperature cooks.

 

[Threadcutter]

As for SWMBO being “right,” it may be true but keep that comment under wraps, please.

I had to look it up..........

 

[Jim6820]

Got the chuck roast on the RT-340 at 8:15 am this morning. Almost 4 hours in, it seems to have hit the stall at about 142F; is that possible? That’s way earlier than I’ve ever experienced. Not sure whether to wrap or wait a bit. I usually wrap at the 160-170F point. Whaddayathink?

Edit: The first two hours were at “LO” to get some smoke, then upped the temp to 225F where it is right now.

 

[Greg Jones]

Not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the stall occurs due to evaporative cooling making the protein actually shed some IT due to the cooling process. I wrap when the stall occurs, not when it reaches a specific temp. Chuck in particular seems to be less predictable about when this happens. No reason for concern, IMO. Wrap it when it stalls. Let me know when it is resting, and I’ll fire up the F-150!

 

[Jim6820]

Not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the stall occurs due to evaporative cooling making the protein actually shed some IT due to the cooling process. I wrap when the stall occurs, not when it reaches a specific temp. Chuck in particular seems to be less predictable about when this happens. No reason for concern, IMO. Wrap it when it stalls. Let me know when it is resting, and I’ll fire up the F-150!

Thanks, Greg. That’s the earliest stall I’ve experienced, even with chuck roast. I just wrapped it in pink butcher paper and put it back on. It did look good at this point with a nice crust.

The grill is coming back up to temp after being open for the wrap, so we’ll see if things change now.

 

[Jim6820]

All’s well that ends well!

Smoked chuck roast on fresh-baked Ciabatta rolls from a local bakery, fresh corn and asparagus. A simple meal, but tasty; just the way we like ‘em.

Ended up cooking the chuck roast to 205F to achieve probe tenderness. Despite the early (IME) stall, everything proceeded as planned. The entire cook was 8-1/4 hours, starting at LO (190F +/-) for 2 hours, 3 hours at 225F, 1 hour at 250F and finished at 275F. I bumped the temp up at the end to finish when I wanted. Then, an hour-and-a-half rest in the cooler and wrapped in a big towel.

 

[BigButtSmoke]

Couple jalepeno garlic chickens on the rotisserie on the today. Also have some brats I cut open stuffed with pepperjack cheese sticks and wrapped in bacon hanging out on the grate! Should be delicious!